Commander Sir Arthur Trevor Dawson, 1st Baronet (1 May 1866 – 19 May 1931) was an English businessman who served as

managing director A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

of the armaments giant

Vickers Vickers was a British engineering company that existed from 1828 until 1999. It was formed in Sheffield as a steel foundry by Edward Vickers and his father-in-law, and soon became famous for casting church bells. The company went public i ...

from 1906 to 1931.

Early life and naval career

Dawson was born in Dalkeith House,

Richmond upon Thames The London Borough of Richmond upon Thames () in southwest London forms part of Outer London and is the only London borough on both sides of the River Thames. It was created in 1965 when three smaller council areas amalgamated under the London ...

, Surrey, the son of landowner and barrister Hugh Dawson and his wife Mary Ann (née Chaffer).Biography, ''

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

'' He joined the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

as a cadet in 1879 and trained at the Royal Academy, Gosport, and in the training ship HMS ''Britannia'' in Dartmouth, Devon. In 1881, he was promoted midshipman in the

Channel Squadron Channel, channels, channeling, etc., may refer to: Geography * Channel (geography), in physical geography, a landform consisting of the outline (banks) of the path of a narrow body of water. Australia * Channel Country, region of outback Austral ...

and undertook further training at the Royal Naval College, Portsmouth, the

Royal Naval College, Greenwich The Royal Naval College, Greenwich, was a Royal Navy training establishment between 1873 and 1998, providing courses for naval officers. It was the home of the Royal Navy's staff college, which provided advanced training for officers. The equi ...

, the Royal Artillery College at

Woolwich Woolwich () is a district in southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The district's location on the River Thames led to its status as an important naval, military and industrial area; a role that was maintained thr ...

, and the torpedo school in HMS ''Vernon''. He was promoted

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

on 20 November 1887 and served in a cruiser in the Mediterranean Fleet. In 1892, he became an experimental officer at Woolwich Arsenal.

Business career

In 1896, he left the Royal Navy to join the armaments firm Vickers as ordnance superintendent, becoming a

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

in 1898, and managing director in 1906. He remained in this post until his death. He was also chairman of Chilworth Gunpowder from 1900 and was a director of many of Vickers' subsidiaries, including

Canadian Vickers Canadian Vickers Limited was an aircraft and shipbuilding company that operated in Canada during the early part of the 20th century until 1944. A subsidiary of Vickers Limited, it built its own aircraft designs as well as others under licence. ...

Vickers-Terni OTO Melara was a subsidiary of the Italian company Finmeccanica, today Leonardo, active in the defence sector, with factories in Brescia and La Spezia. The Mod 56 pack howitzer, in service throughout the world, and the 76mm naval gun, adop ...

in Italy, and the Placencias Arsenal in Spain. Other directorships included

Wolseley Motors Wolseley Motors Limited was a British motor vehicle manufacturer founded in early 1901 by the Vickers Armaments in conjunction with Herbert Austin. It initially made a full range, topped by large luxury cars, and dominated the market in the E ...

and

William Beardmore & Co William Beardmore and Company was a British engineering and shipbuilding conglomerate based in Glasgow and the surrounding Clydeside area. It was active from 1886 to the mid-1930s and at its peak employed about 40,000 people. It was founded and ...

. He retained close connections with the Royal Navy (his commission on the Emergency List was restored in 1902) and the British Government and sat on a number of government committees. He also collected intelligence for the Admiralty on his foreign trips, including one occasion when he skated around the ice-bound dockyards of

Kiel Kiel () is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 246,243 (2021). Kiel lies approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the southeast of the Jutland ...

to see the German naval ships under construction. He was knighted on 13 December 1909. During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, his prominence in the armaments industry naturally increased even further. Although he retained the trust of the government, Vickers, along with other armaments firms, was accused of charging too much. His standing was also damaged by the so-called 'dope scandal'. In 1915–1916, Dawson aided the MP and speculator Grant Morden in setting up the British Cellulose and Chemical Manufacturing Company. The value of the shares was later pushed up by unscrupulous means to an artificially high level, until they were worth £14 10s in 1918 (having originally been worth 6d each). This blatant war profiteering was investigated by a parliamentary select committee in 1918 and an official inquiry chaired by Lord Sumner in 1919. He was to have been raised to the peerage in the

1917 New Year Honours The 1917 New Year Honours were appointments by King George V to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of the British Empire. The appointments were published in several editions of ''The London Gazette'' in Ja ...

, but his name was removed from the list at the last minute, probably because of the unpopularity of the armaments companies. He was, however, created a

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14t ...

, of Edgewarebury, of the parish of

Edgware Edgware () is a suburban town in northern Greater London, mostly in the London Borough of Barnet but with small parts falling in the London Borough of Harrow and in the London Borough of Brent. Edgware is centred north-northwest of Charing Cros ...

, in the County of

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbour ...

, in the 1920 New Year Honours. He was also appointed Grand Cross of the Order of Naval Merit by Spain and was a member of the Order of the Rising Sun and the Order of the Sacred Treasure, 2nd class, of Japan.Biography, ''

Who Was Who ''Who's Who'' is a reference work. It is a book, and also a CD-ROM and a website, giving information on influential people from around the world. Published annually as a book since 1849, it lists people who influence British life, according to i ...

'' He was a member of council of the

Imperial Society of Knights Bachelor The Imperial Society of Knights Bachelor was formed in 1908 in the United Kingdom and received royal recognition in 1912. Its patron was Queen Elizabeth II until her death in 2022. It is a registered charity and seeks to uphold and advise on the ...

. In recognition of his war service, he was promoted commander in the Royal Navy as of 11 November 1918. The Canadian Steamship Lines named a 600-foot

lake freighter Lake freighters, or lakers, are bulk carrier vessels that operate on the Great Lakes of North America. These vessels are traditionally called boats, although classified as ships. Since the late 19th century, lakers have carried bulk cargoes of ma ...

the in October 1916.WILL NAME NEW STEAMER THE SIR TREVOR DAWSON.
''Buffalo Daily Courier'', 21 August 1916 After the war, his influence declined. Another scandal broke in 1920, when Vickers was sued by Admiral Sir Percy Scott over

royalty payments A royalty payment is a payment made by one party to another that owns a particular asset, for the right to ongoing use of that asset. Royalties are typically agreed upon as a percentage of gross or net revenues derived from the use of an asset o ...

for a

gun sight A sight is an aiming device used to assist in visually aligning ranged weapons, surveying instruments or optical illumination equipments with the intended target. Sights can be a simple set or system of physical markers that have to be aligne ...

manufactured by Vickers which Scott had invented and patented. The judge, Lord Coleridge, made it quite clear that he did not believe Dawson's testimony, and found in Scott's favour. Dawson offered to resign from Vickers, but was refused. He was later implicated in shady dealings with the Turkish government over oil in Iraq. Dawson was a strong proponent of

airship An airship or dirigible balloon is a type of aerostat or lighter-than-air aircraft that can navigate through the air under its own power. Aerostats gain their lift from a lifting gas that is less dense than the surrounding air. In early ...

s, which Vickers had begun building in 1908. He persuaded Vickers to collaborate in the construction of the

R100 His Majesty's Airship R100 was a privately designed and built British rigid airship made as part of a two-ship competition to develop a commercial airship service for use on British Empire routes as part of the Imperial Airship Scheme. The ot ...

in the second half of the 1920s. Although the airship was a success, Vickers lost a substantial amount of money (£220,000) over the project.

Interests and family

Dawson was a committed

imperialist Imperialism is the state policy, practice, or advocacy of extending power and dominion, especially by direct territorial acquisition or by gaining political and economic control of other areas, often through employing hard power (economic and ...

. He was a knight of the

Round Table Club Round Table International is an international non-political and non-religious organisation for young men founded in Norwich, England, in 1927 by Louis Marchesi. Round Table members comprise community leaders, professionals and driven individual ...

, which promoted inter-imperial trade. In 1916, he formed a pressure group called the London Imperialists, which aimed to promote the election of MPs sympathetic to imperial trade in London constituencies. This later expanded into the British Commonwealth Union, and he sat on the executive committee from 1918 to 1925. Dawson married Louise Grant in 1892. They had two sons and two daughters. He died suddenly of heart failure at his country seat, Edgewarebury House in

Elstree Elstree is a large village in the Hertsmere borough of Hertfordshire, England. It is about northwest of central London on the former A5 road, that follows the course of Watling Street. In 2011, its population was 5,110. It forms part of t ...

, Hertfordshire, and was buried in Elstree churchyard. The

baronetcy A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

passed to his son, Sir Hugh Trevor Dawson, who also served as an officer in the Royal Navy.

Footnotes

References

*Biography, ''

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Dawson, Trevor 1866 births 1931 deaths People from Richmond, London Knights Bachelor Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom English businesspeople British businesspeople in the armaments industry Businesspeople awarded knighthoods Royal Navy officers Grand Crosses of Naval Merit Recipients of the Order of the Rising Sun Recipients of the Order of the Sacred Treasure, 2nd class Vickers people Graduates of Britannia Royal Naval College